Device for operating a cover

ABSTRACT

The invention relates to a device for actuating a cover ( 2 ) for selectively closing an opening ( 66 ) in a surface ( 3 ) which surrounds the latter in a first position or for at least partially clearing the opening in a second position, the cover ( 2 ) being formed especially by the top in the opening in the roof of a motor vehicle which forms the surface ( 3 ), and the device comprising the following means: 
     a swivelling arm which extends from the front end to the back end and which is provided with means for attachment of the cover ( 2 ); 
     a lifting device ( 14 ) to produce a swivelling motion on the swivelling arm relative to the surface ( 3 ), and 
     drive to apply force to the lifting device ( 14 ) and to move the cover ( 2 ) between the first and the second position in that the swivelling arm has at least two elements (A, C) which are connected to one another to be able to move or telescope, the end ( 30 ) of one of the elements (A) being hinged via a fulcrum to the stationary part of the device or the surface ( 3 ).

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

This invention relates to a device for actuating a cover for selectivelyclosing an opening, in a surface which surrounds the cover, in a firstposition or for at least partially clearing the cover in the opening ina second position, and particularly, the cover forming the top in theopening in the roof of a motor vehicle, which roof forms the surface.The device includes the following elements:

a swiveling arm which extends from the front end to the back end of thecover and which is provided with means for attachment of the cover;

lifting means to produce a swiveling motion on the swiveling armrelative to the surface, and

drive means to apply force to the lifting means and to move the coverbetween the first and the second position.

The device is especially suited for actuating an adjustable cover in anopenable roof of an automobile. The cover is movably attached on theroof of the auto by means of the device.

2. Description of Related Art

A device of the initially mentioned type is known from European patent 0543 427. In it the cover is attached in a frame which is mounted aroundthe opening in the roof. The cover is attached to two swiveling armswhich are mounted on either side of the cover. The cover can be swiveledrelative to the frame by means of these arms. The front end of each ofthe swiveling arms is hinged via a coupling arm to the front part of thedrive slide. These slides can be pushed in a rail. On each of theseslides moreover, on the respective back end, a lever is mounted which ishinged to the swiveling arm. When the cover is opened the drive slidesare pushed in the back direction for example by means of a cable fromthe front end of the rail. In the first part of this motion, the coverswivels by means of the lever into a tilted position or lift position.In doing so, viewed in the direction of travel of the vehicle, the coverpivots around the front side so that the back side of the cover projectsover the roof. A ventilation gap is formed between the back side of thecover and the roof. The roof is extended rearward by continued motion ofthe drive slides in the back direction. Since the swiveling arms and thelevers are connected to the drive slides, these swiveling arms andlevers are moved together with the cover mounted thereon overall (in thetilted position) in the back direction of the opening. This slidingmotion clears the front part of the opening.

With open roofs of motor vehicles it is one objective for the ratiobetween the area of the opening in the roof (size of the cover) and thearea which can actually be cleared (maximum opened position) to be asfavorable as possible. In the case in which the cover can be moved overa relatively great distance, a relatively small opening can suffice toopen the desired roof area. In one such favorable ratio between the sizeof the cover and the area actually to be opened in the device it ispresupposed that the distance between the fulcrum of the lever with thedrive slide as far as the fulcrum of the front end of the swiveling armis kept as small as possible. This distance between the fulcrum on thefront end of the swiveling arm and the fulcrum of the lever correspondsto the length of the section over which the cover is connected to thesupporting guide rail (which is also called the support base of thedevice). The support base is important especially for the stability ofthe cover in the opened position. It should be clear that in the openedposition the cover is exposed to considerable wind forces especially athigher speeds. To prevent the device from being bent or in some otherway adversely affected under the influence of the forces exerted by thewind, the stability of the cover and the device which supports it mustbe as large as possible.

In the device claimed in the aforementioned European patent ('427) thedesire is to clear the opening as far as possible, in contrast to thedesire to keep the cover as stable as possible in the opened position.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The object of the invention is to devise a device in which a cover canbe moved from a closed position into an opened position, and such thaton the one hand the cover can be moved as far as possible in order toclear the opening as far as possible, while on the other hand providingrelatively great stability to the cover during the entire movement ofthe cover.

This object is achieved in this invention by the swiveling arm having atleast two elements which are connected to one another to be able to moveor telescope, the front end of one of the elements being hinged via afulcrum to the stationary part of the device or the surface.

This measure results in that the fulcrum of the swiveling arm isimmobile relative to the base, i.e. the surface. This means that theswiveling arm, when the cover is being opened, does not move as a wholejointly with the cover relative to the surface, but that the swivelingarm increases its length when the cover is being pushed on. The liftingmeans, for example in the form of a lever, can move at the same timewith the cover. The stationary fulcrum between the swiveling arm and thesurface on the one hand and the fulcrum which is moving at the same timebetween the surface and the lifting means on the other hand results inthat the length of the support base of the device increases while thecover is opening. This is advantageous for stability.

The angular torsion of the cover relative to the base is determined onthe one hand by the length of the lifting means and on the other hand bythe distance of the lifting means to the stationary fulcrum. In this waythe angular torsion of the cover relative to the base will decrease whenthe cover is extended to the outside. In this way the wind resistance ofthe cover is increasingly reduced in the direction to its completeopening.

According to one preferred embodiment, it is possible for the swivelingarm to have an intermediate element which is movably connected on theone hand to the first element and which is movably connected on theother hand to a third element. In this embodiment, it is possible forthe means for attachment of the cover to be attached to the thirdelement.

This embodiment makes it possible for the cover to be attached to therear element which is movably attached to the first or the intermediateelement of the swiveling arm. It is thus possible for the freedom ofmotion of the cover to be further increased relative to the stationaryfulcrum. The extreme position of the cover relative to the stationaryfulcrum is not determined by the distance between the stationary fulcrumand the end of the second element or the distance between the stationaryfulcrum and the lever. The cover can be pushed further out of theopening by the additional length which is offered by the third element.This makes it possible to clear the opening in the completely openedstate over a relatively large area.

Furthermore, in another object of the invention, it is possible for theelements of the swiveling arm to be made as telescoping elements, thefront element being connected to the first end of a flexiblecompression-tension element which is guided via a guide groove near theback end of the intermediate element to the attachment for the secondend of the compression-tension element, which attachment is mounted onthe third element.

The action of the compression-tension element results in that the rearelement is similarly automatically moved relative to the front elementwhen the intermediate element is moved relative to the front element.Since the compression-tension element extends from the front element viaa guide groove in the intermediate element to the attachment on the rearelement, when the intermediate element moves relative to the frontelement the rear element will move relative to the intermediate element,which movement is greater than the motion of the intermediate elementrelative to the front element. If the compression-tension element doesnot extend when the respective elements move or does not change itslength in some other way, the rear element will move exactly twice asfast as the intermediate element. Thus considerable displacement motionof the cover can be produced by a short actuating path.

According to one advantageous embodiment, it is possible for the deviceto comprise a guide rail which extends in the lengthwise direction ofthe opening on its sides from the front end to the back end, the drivemeans being connected to the lifting means via a drive slide which canbe moved in the guide rail between the front and the back end of therail, and the lifting means being connected by the first end to thedrive slide and by the second end to the swiveling arm. Here it ispossible for the lifting means by its second end to be connected to theintermediate element and for the lifting means to comprise a lever, thelever being hinged by the first end to the drive slide and hinged by thesecond end to the intermediate element.

The drive slide and thus the lever coupled to it can be pushed togetherin the back direction for extending the roof. The maximally extendedposition is reached when the drive slide reaches the back end of therail. In this position, the swiveling arm will be maximally extended.The rear element moving relative to the intermediate element yields avery favorable ratio between the surface of the cover and the extendedpart of the opening. Furthermore, the support base in the maximumposition also will have the maximum length and thus a favorable effecton stability.

As set forth below, in the invention it is possible for the system tocomprise a coupling arm which is hinged by the first end to the driveslide and by the second end to the intermediate element.

This measure makes it possible from the closed position for the driveslide to move first for a certain path relative to the intermediateelement. In this section the drive slide will allow mainly the lever torotate and thus the cover to swivel relative to the roof.

This invention is suitable especially for actuating the cover of anopenable roof for a motor vehicle. But other covers are also possible,for example roof hatches on buildings, can be advantageously actuatedwith it.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a side view of the roof of a motor vehicle in which a coverthat can be opened is mounted;

FIG. 2 illustrates the individual parts of one embodiment of the deviceof the invention;

FIG. 3 illustrates the device for an openable roof of the invention inthe closed position;

FIG. 4 illustrates the device for an openable roof of the invention inthe open position;

FIG. 5 illustrates the device for an openable roof of the invention inthe extended position;

FIG. 6 illustrates in detail the attachment of the telescoping elementsof the device of the invention in the closed position; and

FIG. 7 illustrates the attachment of the three telescoping elements ofthe device in the at least partially opened position.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

FIG. 1 shows part of a motor vehicle 1, in the roof 3 a top beingmounted as a cover 2. The cover 2 is mounted in an opening 66 in theroof 3 which acts as the surrounding surface. The cover 2 can be pushedbetween a first position in which the cover 2 closes the opening 66, anda second position in which the cover 2 is pushed towards the rear of themotor vehicle so that the opening 66 is at least partially cleared. InFIG. 1, the roof is partially opened, by which the cover 2 projects outof the roof of the motor vehicle 1.

To be able to move the cover 2 out of the first closed position into thesecond opened position, the cover 2 is normally tilted first around aswiveling axis into a lifted position and afterwards pushed to the back.This means that while the cover in the oblique position it is moved tothe rear. The tilted or lifted position is normally used to effectivelyventilate the interior, while the wind noise is kept low. It is clearthat the cover 2 in the opened position will provide wind resistance.First of all, it is important from an aerodynamic standpoint that theamount of wind to which the cover 2 is exposed be as low as possible.Moreover, it is such that the more resistance the cover experiences, thegreater will be the forces acting on the mechanism use to move the cover2 out of the roof 3. For these described reasons, it is thereforeadvantageous if the cover 2 remains in the opened position as near aspossible to the roof 3 of the motor vehicle. This means that the angulartorsion by which the cover is swiveled is kept as small as possible.

FIG. 2 shows the parts which are used in the device, i.e. which are usedto push the cover 2 to the outside, as illustrated in FIG. 1. On eitherside of the roof opening 66 one fixed guide rail 60 each is mounted, inwhich one drive slide 11 at a time is movably guided. This drive slide11 comprises in its upper part a guide groove 12. Moreover, the driveslide 11 comprises attachment eyes 13 into which a lever 14 can bepivotally inserted.

This lever 14 is on the one hand connected by pins 15 which fit into theattachment eyes 13 of the drive slide 11 and is pivotally connected onthe other hand by pins 16 to an attachment part 17 which is located in aslide part 18. The slide part 18 further comprises a curved guide path19.

Not only is the lever 14 attached to the drive slide 11, but also acoupling arm 20 is attached. This coupling arm 20 is attached by meansof first pins 21 to be able to move and turn in the guide groove 12.Furthermore, the coupling arm 20 comprises pins 22 using which it ispivotally connected to a receiving part 23 which is mounted in the firstend block 24. This first end block 24 is explained below in detail.

The drive slide 11 together with the lever 14, the slide part 18 and thecoupling arm 20 forms the “drive part” of the device of the invention.

The swiveling arm of the device with which the cover 2 is moved out ofthe vehicle is formed by three telescoping elements A, B and C. On thetop of the telescoping element C the cover 2 is attached. For the sakeof clarity, FIG. 2 does not show the cover 2. The first telescopingelement A on the front end has a hinge part 30. On the other end of thetelescoping element A, a flexible compression-tension element 31 isattached. The telescoping element A is connected to the telescopingelement C by means of this flexible compression-tension element 31.

The telescoping element A is inserted movably guided into thetelescoping element B. This telescoping element B, for its part, isattached movably guided in the telescoping element C. The slide part 18is also housed and movably guided in the telescoping element B.

The telescoping element B is provided with an end block on both sides.On the front side shown in FIG. 2 a first end block 24 can be recognizedwhich can be attached to the first end of the telescoping element B. Thefirst end block 24 is attached in the element B by attachment means 28in the form of a movable clamp with a catch projection which fits into aslot. On the opposite end of the telescoping element B a second endblock 25 is attached. This second end block 25 is provided with a guidegroove 26 in order to guide the flexible compression-tension element 31in the form of deviation by 180°. Moreover the second end block 25 isprovided with attachment means 27 in the form of a movable clamp with acatch projection which fits into a slot, using which projection thesecond end block 25 is attached in the telescoping element B.

The telescoping elements A, B and C are attached by means of a flexiblecompression-tension element 31 with a capacity to move relative to oneanother. This flexible compression-tension element 31 is attached by oneend to the back end of the telescoping element A. On its other end theflexible compression-tension element 31 is provided with attachmentmeans 32 for the attachment of the flexible compression-tension element31 to the telescoping element C. For attachment of the flexiblecompression-tension element 31, the telescoping element C is providedwith attachment means 40. When pushed together, the flexiblecompression-tension element 31 is guided by the end of the telescopingelement A via the guide groove 26 in the second end block 25 in thedirection of the attachment means 40 of the telescoping element C.Therefore, the telescoping elements A, B and C are connected to oneanother, but can be moved relative to one another.

The flexible compression-tension element 31 can be made in differentways. In one embodiment the compression-tension element 31 comprises athin flexible strip, for example, of stainless steel, that is enclosedbetween two likewise flexible strips of plastic. For good guidance ofthe compression-tension element 31, the plastic of thecompression-tension element 31 together with the material of the guidegroove 26 in the second end block 25 have a relatively low coefficientof friction.

The action of the telescoping elements of the invention is furtherdetailed using FIGS. 3, 4 and 5. In FIGS. 3, 4, and 5 the left side ofthe drawings is always designated the front or the forward side. Theright side in the drawings is the back or the rear side. Thisinformation is given due to the function of the sliding roof which canbe moved from the front of the vehicle to the back of the vehicle inuse.

FIG. 3 shows that the respective telescoping elements A, B, and C arepushed into one another. That is, FIG. 3 shows the situation in whichthe cover 2 is in the closed state. The telescoping element A isattached with its front part 30 to pivot in a guide groove 50 which isheld in the frame 51. FIG. 3 also shows that the cover on the back alsoadjoins the roof 3 via the frame 52. To prevent confusion due to thelarge number of lines, in FIG. 3 the coupling arm 20 and the lever 14areshown by one line. Between the frame 51 and the roof 3, a seal 71 isattached to prevent possible leaks. One such seal 72 is also attachedbetween the frame 52 and the roof 3. Between the cover 2 and therespective frames 51 and 52 seals can also be attached. These seals arenot shown in the Figure. It is clear that the seals can consist of anysuitable material, for example, rubber.

FIG. 3 furthermore shows that the drive slide 11 is housed with asliding capacity in the guide rail 60. This guide rail 60 extends in thelengthwise direction of the motor vehicle 1 in which the device ismounted. A first fixed cam 61 and a second fixed cam 62 are connected tothis guide rail 60. This means that these cams 61 and 62 cannot be movedrelative to the guide rail 60. As is explained below, these cams 61 and62 are used for swiveling the cover 2 outwardly when the cover 2 isbeing opened and for swiveling of the cover 2 inwardly when the cover isbeing closed.

Other drive means 63 are connected to the drive slide 11; using them thedrive slide 11 in FIGS. 3 to 5 can be moved to the left or right. Thesedrive means 63 are shown schematically with a line. The drive means 63can be formed for example by a cable which is driven by a motor (notshown).

FIG. 4 shows the device as claimed in the invention, the cover 2 beingtilted at an angle relative to the roof 3 of the motor vehicle. Thistilting is initiated first by the displacement of the drive slide 11.The guide slot 19 is moved over the fixed cam 61. The cover 2 is movedsomewhat outwardly by the shape of the path of this guide slot 19 overthe fixed cam 61. Secondly, the swiveling motion is effected by means ofa lever 14. This lever 14 is provided with a slot 65 which interactswith the fixed cam 62. The displacement of the drive slide 11 moves thelever 14 coupled to it via the guide slot over the fixed cam 62. Thismotion tilts the cover 2 outwardly by the lever 14. The action of theslot 65 which is mounted in the lever 14, together with the guide slot19 which is mounted in the sliding part 18 can be made for example justlike the swiveling device which is known from European patent 0 543 427.Therefore reference is made to that European patent for the detailedaction of this swiveling motion.

The fulcrum for the tilting motion of the cover 2 is formed by theprojecting part 30 on the telescoping element A. From the position shownin FIG. 4, the telescope mechanism to which the cover 2 is attached ispushed out further by the drive slide 11 being pushed further in thedirection of the rear side of the opening 66 in the roof 3. As the driveslide 11 continues to move, the telescoping element B is moved furtherto the right by the coupling arm 20 (as is shown in the drawings). Asthe telescoping element B moves to the right, the telescoping element Cis moved further to the right.

The extreme open position of the mechanism is shown in FIG. 5. As isapparent, the cover 2 in the position as shown in FIG. 5 forms an anglewith the roof 3. This angleβ is less than the angleα which is shown inFIG. 4. As can be seen in FIGS. 4 and 5, the telescoping element B isconnected to the guide rail 60 on the one hand via the coupling arm 20and on the other hand via the lever 14. The motion of the telescopingelement C is caused by the coupling of the telescoping element C to thetelescoping element A via the flexible compression-tension element 31.This attachment is further explained using FIGS. 6 and 7. Since therespective telescoping elements A, B, and C have a common fulcrum, whichis formed by the projecting part 30 which is attached to the telescopingelement A, the back of the cover 2 will remain relatively near over theroof 3. This is exemplified by a comparison between FIGS. 4 and 5. Theangular positions α and β which are shown in FIGS. 4 and 5 and aredetermined on the one hand by the length of the lever 14 and on theother hand by the distance of the lever 14 to the fulcrum of theprojecting part 50 in the frame 51. The farther the lever 14 is moved tothe right (in the direction facing away from the fulcrum), the smallerthe resulting angle between the cover 2 and the roof 3 will be.

As indicated previously, the object of this invention is to devise adevice for attachment of the cover in the opening of the roof of a motorvehicle, in which the cover in the opened position essentially clearsthe opening, while the stability of the cover in the opened position isrelatively high. Moreover, it is advantageous for the cover in thevertical direction to be moved relative to the roof over a relativelyshort distance. These objects are achieved by the above described mannerof sliding the cover 2 to the open position.

This movement to an extended position results in the stability of thecover 2 being kept held relatively high over the entire lifting motionof the cover 2. The support base of the mechanism which is used to pushthe cover 2 out is formed by the distance between the lever 14 and thefulcrum which is formed by the projecting part 30. The support basewhich is shown in FIG. 4 has a length D. When the cover 2 is pushedoutwardly from the opening 66 the distance of the lever 14 to thefulcrum 30 increases. The support base which is shown in FIG. 5 has alength E. This means that the length of the support base increases asthe cover 2 is being pushed outwardly. This therefore means that, incontrast to the previously known mechanism, the stability of the cover 2is maintained as the cover 2 is being pushed out.

FIG. 6 shows the attachment of the telescoping elements A, B and C, theindividual elements being connected to one another by means of theflexible compression-tension element 31. As stated, the telescopingelement A is connected on its back to the compression-tension element31. This compression-tension element 31 is deflected via a guide 26which is U-shaped in a plan view in the end block 25 by 180° and isguided in the direction of the attachment means 40 which is mounted inthe telescoping element C. The element 30 which forms the front end ofthe telescoping element A is connected essentially stationary to thebase in the direction of motion of the cover 2. This means that whilethe respective telescoping elements B and C are being pushed out, whenthe telescoping element B is moved by the drive means in the directionopposite the element 30, the element C is entrained relative to theelement A.

FIG. 7 shows the position in which the elements A, B, and C are movedslightly apart from one another. The element C will be moved relative tothe element A with twice the speed of element B by the guidance of theflexible compression-tension element 31 via the guide groove 26 in theend block 25.

The case was mentioned above in which the cover 2 is guided to theoutside from the closed position by means of the mechanism of thisinvention. It is clear that by means of the mechanism the cover 2 isreturned also into the closed position when the actions are carried outessentially in the sequence of FIGS. 5, 4 and 3.

What is claimed is:
 1. Device for actuating a cover for selectivelyclosing, in a first position, an opening in a surface, and in a secondposition, for at least partially clearing the opening, comprising, aswiveling arm which extends from a front end of the opening to a backend opening and is attached to the cover; a lifting means to produce aswiveling motion on the swiveling arm relative to the surface, and drivemeans to apply force to the lifting means so as to move the coverbetween the first and the second position, wherein, the swiveling armcomprises a first element and a second element connected to one anotherso as to be able to move relative to each other, such that an end of thefirst element is hinged to a fulcrum on a stationary part of thesurface, and the swiveling arm further comprises an intermediate elementwhich is movably connected at one end thereof to the first element andis movably connected at an opposite end thereof to the second element.2. Device as set forth in claim 1, wherein the second element of theswiveling arm forms the attachment to the cover.
 3. Device as set forthin claim 1, wherein the first, second, and intermediate elements of theswiveling arm are assembled in a telescoping relationship, wherein thefirst element is connected to a first end of a flexiblecompression-tension element which is guided by a guide groove near a farend of the intermediate element to an attachment means, located on thethird element, for a second end of the compression-tension element. 4.Device as set forth in claim 1, further comprising a guide rail whichextends in a lengthwise direction of the opening from a near end to afar end, wherein said drive means is connected to the lifting meansthrough a drive slide movable along the guide rail between the near endand the far end of the guide rail and wherein the lifting means isconnected at a first end to the drive slide and at a second end to theswiveling arm.
 5. Device as set forth in claim 4, wherein the liftingmeans is connected at the second end to the intermediate element. 6.Device as set forth in claim 4, wherein the lifting means comprise alever which is hinged at a first end to the drive slide and which ishinged at a second end to the intermediate element.
 7. Device as setforth in claim 4, further comprising a coupling arm which is hinged at afirst end to the drive slide and is hinged at a second end to theintermediate element.
 8. An openable roof for a motor vehicle comprisinga motor vehicle roof having a surface with an opening, a movable coverwithin the opening, and a device for actuating the cover for selectivelyclosing, in a first position, the opening in the surface, and in asecond position, for at least partially clearing the cover from theopening, wherein the device comprises, a swiveling arm which extendsfrom a front end of the opening to a back end opening and is attached tothe cover; a lifting means to produce a swiveling motion on theswiveling arm relative to the surface, and drive means to apply force tothe lifting means so as to move the cover between the first and thesecond position, wherein, the swiveling arm comprises a first elementand a second element connected to one another so as to be able to moverelative to each other, such that an end of the first element is hingedto a fulcrum on a stationary part of the surface, and the swiveling armfurther comprises an intermediate element which is movably connected atone end thereof to the first element and is movably connected at anopposite end thereof to the second element.